That seemed to settle something inside him, a half-smile tugging at his face.
“Yeah, El?” he repeated, cocking his head ever so slightly to the side. He inched closer to me, eyes never leaving my face, searching it. “One knee or two?”
“One,” I whispered.
“One?” he rasped, tone lingering somewhere in the intersection of euphoria and disbelief.
Sully held my gaze as he lowered back to one knee, and then he propped his elbow on it, looking a hell of a lot more steady than he had a minute ago. He held his hand up, and between his thumb and his pointer finger was the ring.
“Eleanor.” I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard his voice sound so low, so deep. As though I were tangled in a part of him that wasn’t available to anyone else, and he’d reached inside to find me, my name. “This has been burning a hole in my wallet for six years.” He held the ring higher, and my breath caught in my throat. “There’s animprintof itin the leather, baby.” Sully shook his head, and I wasn’t actually sure if I could do this—if I could stand here with him on his knee like that without devolving into a mess again. Without dropping onto the sidewalk to be on the ground with him, feel the roots of our beginnings beneath me. “But that’s not where it’s meant to be.”
All I could do was release a shaky breath. “It’s not?”
“No.” He smiled crookedly. “Not at all. It’s meant to be on your finger. I’ve wanted it on your finger for sofuckinglong, and I don’t care what it stands for outside of the fact that you’re mine.” His eyes pleaded with me as much as his words. “God, I want to ask if you’ll marry me, El. Someday, whenever you’re ready. But mostly I just want to ask if you’ll be mine.”
I could barely even hear him; the roar of my pulse was deafening in my ears. But I saw his mouth form words I’d only ever imagined, and they rendered me speechless. “Sul…”
“I don’t care where we live,” he continued, readjusting on his knee a little. Moving closer. Leaning forward. “I don’t care if it’s in Boston or California or halfway around the globe. I don’t care if it’s in the stars. As long as it’s you and me, darling.”
“Sawyer.” I clutched the roses tighter, ignoring the prick of the thorns against my palm. “That’sallI want.”
“Thank fucking God,” he exhaled, a whoosh of air.
And then his voice began wobbling, and so did my knees.
“You came home this summer, but so did I. Because as important as this house is to me…” He flung his free arm back, gesturing at the large renovated farmhouse. “It’s nothing without the people in it. Withoutyou. Without you, it’s just walls and windows and doors.” Tears welled in my lash line, blurring my vision as he added softly, “For the past thirteen years, you’ve been the only home I’ve ever known.”
All I could do for a second was nod. Because he couldn’t have picked more perfect words for how I felt about him.
“You said you wanted to ask me something?” I questioned, blinking away tears, and Sully gave an eager little nod that hadlaughter and joy tingling my throat, bursting to get out. But first, I needed to say, “I think you should ask me, Sawyer.”
He rotated the ring between his fingers, unable to hold it still. Like it was ready to jump out of his hand and onto mine. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I swallowed hard, holding his gaze. “Because I really do want to be a London. But mostly, I want to be your wife. Someday, Sul. Maybe even someday soon. Ask me.” At this point, he was just a blur in front of me. A blur of blond hair, blue eyes, and a smile that could cure the worst heartache. But at the same time, I’d never known a clearer picture. “Please?”
“Oh, baby.” His soft chuckle threatened to undo me. “You don’t need to say please to get me to ask to marry you. I’ve been dreaming of this my whole fucking life.” Sully’s gaze shone, the starlight reflecting there.
A carefree laugh slipped through my lips. “I think we should make it a reality, then.”
I blinked, and all I saw was him.
“I love you more than anything, Eleanor.” He positioned the ring carefully between two fingers, holding it out for me to take.Beggingfor me to take it. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” I nodded. And nodded and nodded, not being able to stop. “A million times yes. I love you.” I pressed fingers to my lips, barely holding in a hiccupping sob, not for the first time tonight. “So much.”
“Then give me that hand, baby.” His smile threatened to explode off his face. “Let’s put this ring where it was always meant to be.”
Clutching the roses in one hand, I stuck out the other one, and then I decided that maybe it was okay to cry. That maybe sometimes crying was good, and so was being messy. Maybe there was a reason that the only thing I knew to be clear in life was him. That when I pictured the future, he was in every frame.
I watched with unsteady breaths as Sully slid the beautiful band, with its sparkling solitaire diamond, onto my finger.
And it fit perfectly.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
ellie
“HEY, KIDDO,” MY MOM called as soon as I stepped out the front door to get some fresh air. She took a sip of what looked like a wine cooler, and I waved, walking over to her.
